Roofing shingle dolly

ABSTRACT

A roofing shingle dolly, for positioning piles of shingles upon predetermined locations on a sloped roof, formed of a shingle support platform mounted upon casters for rolling up and down a sloped roof surface, and an adjustable, V-shaped fitting for engaging over and securing to the roof ridge, with a cable connecting the platform to the fitting and being releasably frictionally clamped to the platform so that a roofer may move the dolly towards or away from the fitting by pulling or loosening the cable and temporarily clamp it to hold the dolly in predetermined positions.

United States Patent r1 1 Hogan 1 1 Nov. 6, 1973 ROOFING SHINGLE DOLLY Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman [76] Inventor: John R. Hogan, East Detroit, Mich. Atwmey Bemard Cantor 22 Filed: Sept. 12, 1972 57 ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No: 288,366 I l A roofing'shingle dolly, for positioning piles of shingles upon predetermined locations on a sloped roof, formed 2? 2 5 53 25 2 9: of a shingle support platform mounted upon casters for l 1 l rolling up and down a sloped roof surface, and an ad- [58] Field of Search 104/173 R, 176; 1 I

. 214/ H 52/748 749 ustable, V-shaped fitting for engaging over and securing to the roof ridge, with a cable connecting the platform to the fitting and being releasably frictionally [56] References uted clamped to the platform so that a roofer may move the UNlTED STATES PATENTS dolly towards or away from the fitting by pulling or 3,216,369 11/1965 McKinney... 104/176 loosening the cable and temporarily clamp it to hold 3,245,192 4/l966 Hilson 52/748 the dolly in predetermined positions. 3,438,170 4/1969 White 52/749 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF INVENTION In applying shingles upon a sloped building roof, it is customary for a roofer to carry piles of shingles up to the roof surface and to lay these piles at various locations upon the roof surface so that he can obtain therefrom the individual shingles needed as the shingles are applied to the roof face or surface. Since piles of roof shingles are relatively heavy and difficult to move about upon a sloped roof surface, considerable effort is required by the roofer to move the piles around to be readily accessible to him as he applies the shingles in rows upon the roof.

Thus, the invention herein relates to a simple, inexpensive dolly upon which a pile of shingles may be positioned, with the dolly secured to the roof in a manner which permits it being moved up and down along the slope thereof for positioning the pile of shingles as desired by the roofer. The dolly is operable by one man so that a single roofer can easily handle it with little effort and thereby avoid the necessity of moving heavy piles of shingles to various work locations upon a roof surface.

I SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention herein relates to a dolly formed as a flat platform of a size for supportinga flat pile of roof shingles, with rollers formed on the platform so that it may be rolled up and down a sloped building roof. A simplified, adjustable, V-shaped fitting is arranged for securement to the ridge of the roof, and a flexible cable connects the dolly to the fitting. The cable is frictionally clamped by a simplified locking means to the platform so that the roofer may either pull or loosen the cable to move the dolly upwardly or downwardly upon the roof surface and thereby position the shingles at convenient locations.

The fitting itself is formed foroverlapping the roof ridge and embedding therein with a few hammer blows so that it may be moved from place to place along the ridge simply by pulling it loose and then hammering it back into the ridge again, thereby permitting the dolly to be positioned in various places along the length of the roof.

Since the movement of the dolly can be controlled by one man, a single roofer may, with little effort, easily position piles of shingles at convenient locations as he works along a sloped roof surface and thereby elimimate the need for carrying and moving heavy piles of shingles which requires additional time andlabor.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the dolly herein positioned upon a portion of a sloped building roof, such as the sloped roof of a private dwelling house.

FIG. 2 is a side view, with the roof partially in crosssection showing the dolly arranged along the slope of the roof and supported from the ridge thereof.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the dolly taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the dolly and its attached fitting for mounting it upon the roof.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the adjustable V-shaped fitting, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one leg of the fitting. FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a form of temporary frictional clamp for securing the dolly cable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The roof shingle dolly, 10, is formed of a flat, rigid, plate-like platform 11 fastened upon a rectangular metal frame 12 upon which are mounted rear and forward casters or rollers 13 and 14. Preferably, the rear casters are on a fixed axis type of mounting, that is, non-pivotable, whereas the forward casters are pivotable.

The dolly is illustrated as being positioned upon a sloped or slanted roof 15 upon which shingles are to be applied. As an example of such a roof, a typical dwelling house roof is made of wood trusses or joist members covered by large sheets of wood material or by boards, over which a layer of roofing paper is laid and, in turn, covered by rows of conventional asphalt or the like shingles. Thus, a roofer is faced with the task of apply-. ing the shingles in rows either upon a new roof or as a replacement for an old roof.

The roof is shown schematically to represent the sloped surface upon which the shingles are to be applied, with the roof peak or ridge designated as 16.

A pile of conventional shingles, such as large flat asphalt shingles 17, is placed upon the platform which is of a size to support the shingles in .flat face-to-face relationship. To prevent the pile from slipping back off the low end of the platform, suitable posts or columns 18 are formed upon the platform.

The dolly may be loaded with shingles on the ground and then lifted, with a suitable hoist means, upon the roof or alternatively, the dolly may be positioned upon the roof and piles of shingles brought to it.

The dolly is supported from the roof peak or ridge by means of an adjustable V-shaped attachment 20 which overlaps and is fastened to such ridge. The attachment or fitting is formed of a plate 21 to which is fastened a pulley 22 and a second plate 23 secured by a hinge 24 in edge-to-edge relationship to the first plate. Thus, the two plates may be moved relative to each other to make an adjustable angle V-shaped fitting. Plate 23 is bent to form an overlap edge 23a to better fit and hold over the ridge.

The second plate 23 is preferably provided with struck-out teeth 25 which are spike-like for embedding into the ridge of the roof. 1

A cable 27 has an end connected to an eye fastener or loop 28 securedto the platform frame 12, with the cable extending around the pulley 22 and then back beneath the platform. passing, through forward and rear guide fittings 29.. The cable is' temporarily frictionally clamped to the platform by means of a manually releasable friction lock or clamp 30. One suitable form (see FIG. 7) comprises a pair of spring loaded, pivotally mounted friction earns 31 which are spring loaded by springs 32 to pivot towards each other so as to grip and clamp the cable 27 and to temporarily hold it until such time as it is pulled free from between the two cams. Other suitable releasable clamping means may likewise be used.

In operation, the dolly is lifted upon the roof surface 15 either loaded with shingles or unloaded, to be loaded thereafter, and the attachment or fitting is laid over the ridge. With a few blows of the hammer, the roofer may drive the spikes 25 into the exposed ridge portion beneath the fitting to lock the fitting in place.

Thereafter, the dolly maybe rolled up and down the slope of the roof simply by pulling upon the cable 27 or alternatively loosening the cable 27 and in each case clamping the cable between movements so as to hold the dolly in predetermined locations.

When the roofer wishes to move the dolly into a different part of the roof, he merely has to climb up to the ridge and while holding the cable 27 at a point near the pulley, pull the plate 23 loose from the ridge with the claw part of his hammer, move the fitting further down the ridge and bang it back into the ridge with a few blows of his hammer. Thereafter, he can move the platform by properly pulling the cable.

-In this manner, a single roofer can easily handle a heavy pile of shingles and easily adjust the location of the pile as he works in positioning the shingles in rows upon the roof surface.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

1. A roofing shingle dolly for positioning piles of roof shingles at predetermined locations upon a sloped roof, comprising:

a flat platform of a size to support a roof shingle, so that a pile of roof shingles laid flat, one upon the other, may be supported upon the upper surface of the platforms;

rollers mounted upon the lower surface of the platform for moving saidplatform upon a sloped roof surface;

an adjustable angle V-shaped fitting for positioning over the ridge of the roof, with the legs of the V extending downwardly at opposite sides of the ridge;

a pulley secured to one of said fitting legs and fastener means arranged upon the other fitting leg for embedding into the roof portion overlapped thereby;

a flexible cable having an end secured to one end of the platform, extending around said pulley and returning beneath the lower surface of the platform;

a frictional, manually releasable, cable locking means secured to the platform and releasably clamping the cable portion passing beneath the platform;

whereby the fitting may be positioned upon and secured to a roof ridge, with the platform supported upon the ridge and held to the fitting by said cable, and the platform may be rolled upon the sloped :roof surface towards and away from said fitting by respectively pulling and loosening said cable portion and said platform may be held in predetermined positions by temporarily clamping the cable by said cable locking means.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said fitting being formed of a pair of fiat plates secured together, edge-to-edge by a hinge for thereby adjusting the angle of the fitting to conform to the slope of the roof surface;

and said fastener means comprising spikelike projections formed on said other fitting leg and extending inwardly of the V for embedding into the overlapped roof portion by hammer blows.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, and said other fitting leg being bent into a V-shape adjacent the hinge for itself overlapping and holding upon a ridge.

4. A construction as defined in claim 2, and including posts extending upwardly from the platform at the low end thereof, that is, the end most remote from the fitting, for holding the pile of shingles upon the platform surface;

and said cable clamping means being also located at said low end of the platform. 

1. A roofing shingle dolly for positioning piles of roof shingles at predetermined locations upon a sloped roof, comprising: a flat platform of a size to support a roof shingle, so that a pile of roof shingles laid flat, one upon the other, may be supported upon the upper surface of the platforms; rollers mounted upon the lower surface of the platform for moving said platform upon a sloped roof surface; an adjustable angle V-shaped fitting for positioning over the ridge of the roof, with the legs of the V extending downwardly at opposite sides of the ridge; a pulley secured to one of said fitting legs and fastener means arranged upon the other fitting leg for embedding into the roof portion overlapped thereby; a flexible cable having an end secured to one end of the platform, extending around said pulley and returning beneath the lower surface of the platform; a frictional, manually releasable, cable locking means secured to the platform and releasably clamping the cable portion passing beneath the platform; whereby the fitting may be positioned upon and secured to a roof ridge, with the platform supported upon the ridge and held to the fitting by said cable, and the platform may be rolled upon the sloped roof surface towards and away from said fitting by respectively pulling and loosening said cable portion and said platform may be held in predetermined positions by temporarily clamping the cable by said cable locking means.
 2. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said fitting being formed of a pair of flat plates secured together, edge-to-edge by a hinge for thereby adjusting the angle of the fitting to conform to the slope of the roof surface; and said fastener means comprising spikelike projections formed on said other fitting leg and extending inwardly of the V for embedding into the overlapped roof portion by hammer blows.
 3. A construction as defined in claim 2, and said other fitting leg being bent into a V-shape adjacent the hinge for itself overlapping and holding upon a ridge.
 4. A construction as defined in claim 2, and including posts extending upwardly from the platform at the low end thereof, that is, the end most remote from the fitting, for holding the pile of shingles upon the platform surface; and said cable clamping means being also located at said low end of the platform. 